Max frantically gasped for breath.
Once again, he was standing in the entrance hall with a confused Audrey.
"Are you out of your mind?! Do you have any idea what you've just done?"
"Time really did reset," Max mumbled.
He was feeling somewhat sick as the fragmented pieces of his awareness struggled to realign.
"It reset again."
"What are you talking about?" Audrey asked.
Max looked at her; her brow was furrowed with concern.
I guess I sound like a mad man.
He took a deep breath.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think we're caught in some kind of time loop. I just tried to walk out, and everything... reset."
Audrey's concern gave way to outright skepticism.
"A time loop? That's a theoretical magical construct. There's no recorded instance of..."
While Audrey begun her explanation, Max tuned out and went deep into thought.
His eyes darted to his status window, checking the time remaining on his urgent quest.
[URGENT MAIN QUEST: Make a Memorable Academy Entrance]
Conditions:
-Must be witnessed by at least 100 students
-Must become the talk of the academy for at least one week
-Must satisfy the System's minimum "memorable" requirement
Reward: ???
Time limit: 33 minutes?
Failure: Termination of System, Return to Original Extra Status
Time indeed seemed to have reset. But now, was a never seen before question mark after the time limit. The sight sent a chill down Max's spine.
There was something wrong with the System itself.
But far more alarming was the new notification below it.
It was glitching with parts of the text corrupted and unreadable:
[EMERGENCY QUEST: ?????]
- Description: "The Chronovryn has iden███ you as a temp███ ████. Each l██p e███s a fr███ion of your exis███ce in th██ wor██."
- Objective: Survive as YOU
- Status: Timeline Integration: 92%
- Reward: ???
- Failure: YOU will cease to exist.
Max stared at the corrupted notification, dread rising from the inside.
My first death flag quest…
And whatever "Timeline Integration" was, it couldn't be good.
He glanced at the entrance and briefly considered asking Audrey to try walking through. Maybe if it were her, time might not reset. Unlikely, but not impossible.
He rejected the idea.
What if Audrey disappeared?
It was fine if this meant it allowed her to escape but...
What if it didn't and sent her to some unknown place elsewhere?
Deep inside Max there was a more lingering fear:
He didn't wish to be left alone.
He needed her help and strength.
"Look," he said finally,
"I know this sounds insane, but I've experienced this before. We explored deeper into the tower. We found a control room with a massive clockwork mechanism. There was something waiting for us there. The tower guardian attacked me. And then... everything reset."
Audrey, who had stopped her words for a while now, studied him with narrowed eyes.
"It appears my words were not just failing to reach you but were getting lost in the clouds with you. You really are daydreaming."
"I'm not daydreaming Audrey. It was real, and now we're stuck repeating it unless we figure a way out." Max insisted, frustration creeping into his voice.
Without waiting for her response, Max turned and strode toward the grand staircase.
"Where are you going?" Audrey called after him, alarmed.
"Upstairs."
Max did not slow his movements.
"With or without you."
"Wait!"
Audrey hurried after him, her white habit rustling.
"You can't just wander deeper into the tower! These areas are forbidden for a reason!"
As they began climbing the grand staircase that spiraled upward along the tower's interior wall, Max explained what had happened.
They reached the first landing, where display cases lined the walls containing ancient charts and instruments for astronomical studies.
Everything was exactly as Max recalled.
"There."
He pointed to a small table tucked in an alcove.
"That's a research station. Someone's been working here recently."
Audrey approached the table cautiously, examining the scattered papers and specialized tools.
"You're right. These notes are fresh. The ink hasn't fully set on some of them."
Max scanned the materials, looking for anything that might explain their situation. This time, he was careful to avoid touching anything, keeping his hands firmly to his sides unless necessary.
Whatever had triggered the tower's defenses before, he wasn't eager to repeat it.
"They must have left in a hurry for the welcoming ceremony, forgetting to seal the entrance."
"That would explain how we got in," Audrey agreed. "But you could have been here before!"
Max simply sighed.
The staircase offered glimpses of the intricate mechanical workings that filled the structure's core. Massive gears turned, interconnected by a complex network of crystal conduits pulsing with blue-white energy. Their outer glow was also blue.
The visual cue of blue instead of purple meant that the circumstances were different from the novel. There was no special celestial alignment happening right now. Nor was there ever a situation where time travel had occurred in the novel.
Max continued climbing, taking the steps two at a time.
"Your next line is going to be, 'This is a sacred forbidden historical site, not some adventure playground for reckless students!'"
"This is a sacred forbidden historical site, not some adventure playground for reckless students!"
Audrey froze mid-step, her amber-gold eyes widening.
"How... how did you know I was going to say that?"
Max glanced back at her, his expression not so good despite his light tone.
"I'm psychic."
When she continued staring at him in bewilderment, he sighed.
"Obviously not. I've heard you say it before. Time reset, remember?"
"…It doesn't explain why we can't leave, assuming your... time loop theory... has merit."
As they ascended further into the tower, Audrey's skepticism was forced to increasingly waver in the face of Max's uncanny foreknowledge.
"So if this really is a time loop… what caused it?"
"I think it has something to do with Chronovryn. It reminds me of—"
He stopped abruptly mid-sentence, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Reminds you of…?" Audrey prompted.
Max tilted his head, his brows frowning.
"I was thinking about how this reminds me of something from back home. There was this mov… performance I watched with my friend... what was his name?"
Audrey looked at him weirdly.
His expression grew troubled as he struggled to recall.
Jayceon? Jarred?
He always wore that a brown vintage band t-shirt from... Huh, I can't remember the band name either. One time the metalhead dragged me to watch one of their concerts… Where was it again?"
Max's face sunk into an ugly as he realized what was happening.
Bits of his past were fading. The small details that should have been easy to recall were starting to vanish.
Is this what it meant by I will cease to exist…? Or am I jumping too head of myself?
They reached another level containing a circular chamber with unusual crystal spheres mounted on intricate brass stands, each softly pulsing with inner light.
"What are these again?"
Audrey shook her head.
"I'm not certain. They appear to be some kind of magical recording or observational devices."
Max leaned closer to one of the crystals, following its swirling inner light. Without touching it, he peered into its depths.
Suddenly, the light within the crystal coalesced into a mysterious glow.
What the hell?
Inside he saw not a reflection from its surface, but instead a bird's-eye view of himself back on Earth.
The him there was chilling at his desk, scrolling through his phone reading the latest chapters of the novel.
The sight made him jerk backwards.
Like a bubble popping in a dream, the image in the crystal vanished.
This did not happen before.
"What happened?"
"Nothing. Just... brighter than I expected."
They had been exploring for what felt like hours when they reached a heavy wooden door with magic inscriptions glowing red along its frame.
"This is as far as we can go."
Audrey crossed her arms. Her chin remained tilted toward the glowing frame as if pointing to the obvious to an ignorant student.
"Those are high tier inscriptions. The Mother Goddess herself would not condone trespassing beyond such clear boundaries."
Max examined the doorframe carefully, running his fingers along the carved grooves until he found a small compartment. With a soft click, it opened, revealing a tiny gem.
Audrey's eyes widened.
"How did you find that?"
"I told you. I've been here before. You really need to stop being surprised at everything."
After inserting the key, the wooden door began to swing open on its own.
Her skepticism was finally wavering.
"That's... remarkable. You couldn't have known about that hidden compartment unless..."
"Unless I'd already found it. Still think I'm just daydreaming?"
Audrey stared at him.
"… I really don't know what to think anymore. By trusting in you, I'm starting to believe something very unusual is happening here."
Finally, they reached the entrance to the control room. The vast circular chamber dominated by the enormous clockwork mechanism at its center. A column of pure magical energy stretched upward through an opening in the ceiling.
Max's feet came to a stop.
Knowing what had happened last time he'd entered, he was hesitating to enter or not.
Me getting cold feet?
Max laughed and boldly stepped in.
Audrey followed closely. Since hearing Max's story she was already on standby to use her divine magic if needed.
Though her heightened concentration slipped for a moment because of Max's sudden burst into laughter.
She was about to scold him, but when she looked at his serious face, she remained silent.
Max's approach to the mechanism was courageous but cautious. He was searching for anything that might help explain their situation. Besides the main central device, he also explored the other objects around the place.
Unfortunately, the search for clues appeared fruitless.
Eventually, the air above the clockwork began to shimmer and distort.
"There."
He stepped back, pulling Audrey with him.
"It's coming."
From within the distortion emerged a serpentine form.
Crystalline scales shifting between transparency and solidity as it moved, creating an effect that was both beautiful and deeply unsettling. The Chronovryn hovered above the mechanism, its alien body twisting in strange curves as it observed them.
"By the Mother's light it really appeared…"
Unlike last time, Max kept perfectly still, but this time it was deliberate. He watched the creature cautiously while enduring the fear and urge to run when it got closer.
Like before, it seemed to completely ignore Audrey as she made the Mother sign, fixed solely on him.
The creature drifted closer, its movements creating that disorienting effect where it seemed to cover distance without actually moving through the intervening space.
"Don't move. It doesn't seem interested in you."
"What does it want?" she asked, her voice a little less audible than Max.
"Beats me. But I don't think running will help."
The Chronovryn continued its approach, studying Max.
When it was just a few feet away, it extended one crystalline limb toward him.
Max held his ground, remembering what had happened last time.
Running hadn't helped then; understanding was the key.
At least it should be… I was too hasty last time.
"I'm not here to harm the tower."
Max was desperately holding the rein on his legs to keep them from bolting.
"I'm just trying to find a way out."
The Chronovryn's limb touched his face.
"Max!!"
Fuck not again…
The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was the Chronovryn's crystalline form, shimmering with what almost looked like curiosity.
A slight difference.